Obama’s Journey to the Center

After a difficult first year in the White House, President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address, outlined new guidelines for the legislature’s second phase. His central message represents a smooth opening to the center, the space where power is disjoined, but does not abandon his social proposals. This practice, already successfully tried by Bill Clinton, is a strategy that, if it hits the mark, should unblock the legislative obstacles that Obama’s reforms are encountering.

The commitment of moderates pivots on attitudes about the economy, a subject to which Obama allocated two thirds of his speech and that he delineated as his top priority. The desire to appeal to moderates was manifested in the specific attention he paid to the concerns of voters who oscillate between the two parties and independents. Most importantly, the increasing public deficit, which Obama reminded us is a legacy inherited from the previous Republican administration, was compared to the surplus left by the Democrats. Obama promised to create a three-year package leading to drastic savings in public spending with an exception on spending for national security, Social Security and health care costs. This could be achieved in 2011, with the hope that the ongoing recovery will make it more digestible.

The intent to reclaim the space in the center was also evident in his promises to reduce taxes for small businesses and his constant appeals to the middle class, with nods to fiscal responsibility and education. For the same purpose, he put greater emphasis on the strength of his foreign policy and didn’t miss the opportunity to mention [John F.] Kennedy and (significantly) Reagan as inspirations for his nuclear arms reduction strategy, agreed upon by Russia. In this important section, he very briefly outlined his concerns — more from external than internal factors — about the still limited results of the multilateral approach [in fighting terrorism] and he reiterated the date of 2011 as the start of the return of deployed troops from Afghanistan.

In return, the Republican Party, which has launched a harsh style of opposition with no room for dialogue, was asked to “work together” and collaborate with the Senate [Democrats], where the Democrats have just lost the 60th seat, a seat previously thought to be invulnerable. This offer, designed as a carrot on a stick, was laced with a threat: to resolve some matters by decree.

Obama must walk a delicate line to undertake this journey to the center without losing the drive provided by his faithful on the left. Obama assured them that “I will not give up [on trying to change the tone of our politics].” He also promised not to “abandon” them on health care reform, which will be realized, even though he did not yet say how. Then, most importantly, he spoke firmly about dealing with Wall Street and identified those who will put up a strong fight against change: lobbies, bankers, pundits and the administrative complex itself — all the synthesized interests in Washington. It is not easy to stake a claim to move forward while enjoying support from both sides at the same time. However, Obama has realized that it is impossible to accomplish his mission with support from only one side.